


"Cute" encounter

by dorocak



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Bargaining, Crooked Kingdom Spoilers, F/M, Libraries, and i'm not renaming it, death is just doing her job, foreshadowing at its finest, just "killing" time, kaz might be slightly ooc, only in the second chapter though, the encounter isn't that cute but that's how my friend called it, violence mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 11:43:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13099389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorocak/pseuds/dorocak
Summary: Six crows got together to perform a heist that could cost them their lives.Two are willing to kill if it means to survive a be free,Two are willing to kill even if it’s going to cost them their freedom and lives,One is already struggling to stay in the world of the living,And the last one is bargaining for a life.(set  during the time on the Ferolind)





	1. Cute encounter or what Kaz was doing before Inej's recovery

Kaz wished he could talk with Inej. Or torture someone. Or kill someone. That way he would distract himself from the pain in his leg at least a little and get back to his work. But there was the paradox - his damn leg hurt too much that day to do anything. It was certainly the leg’s fault. He could only sit there, wondering whether Inej would make it out alive… while he needed to put together a plan. Well, he had made a plan already – or at least a part of it, but he needed another one, just in case. And a back-up plan. And a second back-up plan. This was a mission too important to screw up. Nevertheless, thanks to his damned leg, he couldn’t concentrate. The damn leg and Pekka Rollins. Oomen and everyone's inability to do anything alright. Wylan worked too damn slowly. Matthias was too busy playing a noble drüskelle to cooperate. And Nina was too inexperienced in her work. And Inej… He couldn’t blame Inej for the state she was in. Or he could. She should have been more careful. But she’d saved them. She’d saved them from an ambush he should have prevented…

Filled with anger he stood up and crawled towards his cabin, trying to suppress the pain. When he reached Nina’s cabin, he had to take a break. His leg was hurting too much, and he needed to rest it a little, otherwise he wouldn’t have paused. He avoided Nina’s cabin as much as possible. Partially because he didn’t know how to look at Inej without feeling the need to rip someone’s insides out, and partially because of that... he wasn’t even sure what that was. Animosity, bad air?

He found himself staring at the door of the cabin.

_Should he come in? And if so, what would he do?_

There was nothing he could do for Inej now. Or she for him as a matter of fact. Being like this, she wasn’t the Wraith that could help him with his plan. She was just a teenager forced to go on a possibly suicidal mission.

 _She wasn’t forced_ , he corrected himself. _She had a choice_.

And she was dying because of it. And if Inej wouldn’t make it, if she wouldn’t make it…

“Our entire plan is in jeopardy,” he reminded himself, trying to speak down the other voices in his head that insisted on something else. He needed Wraith to make this plan work, no matter what he had said to her. She was the only one he could trust, after all.

Suddenly, steps came from behind the door, silent - but that wasn't how Wraith used to walk. Kaz whirled and rushed into his cabin as fast as he could, lips pursed with pain. 

 _It_ still hadn’t left. That _thing_ had been keeping company to the small Suli girl since he had found her bleeding. Its ill presence had faded for a short while when he’d tossed Oomen over the board, but it hadn’t gone away for long either. Kaz gritted his teeth. He wished he could throw that thing over the board as well.

He slammed the door of his cabin open and immediately froze at the doorsill. Even the pain in his leg was forgotten for a while.

 _“...DEATH DOESN’T DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN THE SINNERS AND THE SAINTS...”_ A young boy was sitting on his chair with his back turned to him, legs crossed, studying the papers laying on the desk and singing in a horrible falsetto. Kaz didn’t remember any kids being on board nor had he left his cabin open for anyone to walk in. Normally, he would scare the kid off and threaten him not to come back again, but instead he took a step back. The door behind him shut, alerting the singing figure of his presence.

 _“YIKES,”_ the young boy stopped singing and jumped off his chair. Jordie. He looked exactly as Kaz remembered him. Maybe a bit younger, but still slim and tall, smiling with deep brown eyes… Except this wasn’t him. There was something else, ominous and alien behind the figure of his brother. Alien yet familiar.

A shiver ran through his spine and his traitorous leg betrayed him yet again. Kaz slid to the floor, unable to lift his sight from the phantom with his brother’s face. A sudden wave of nausea splashed over him. Cold dead arms reaching to him, trying to drown him in the depths of the freezing water... His icy façade broke down and Kaz Brekker, Bastard of the Barrel, became Kaz Rietveld again, terrified and lost.

The figure of his brother walked towards him and tilted his head with confusion. Then he - it slowly reached its thin arm to the young man on the ground as if to help him get back to his feet. Kaz jerked in panic and hit the offered hand with his cane. The fear mixed with anger. He managed to stand up and pull out a knife. Part of him wanted to run, part wished to attack. The third part wanted to bargain. The figure just looked at the hit hand as if it had seen it for the first time.

 _“MY APOLOGIES,“_ it said at last. Kaz watched with horror as his brother’s image vanished but was immediately replaced with a tall skinny lady. The long pitch-dark dress and ebony hair were merely stressing the whiteness of her skin and the sharpness of her features. The face was thin and of ivory colour, like a skull. As for the eyes…

It was an instinct and on top of that a stupid one. His hands flew through the air, aiming a sharp blade to the sickly white neck. Suddenly the woman dissolved under his hands and reappeared next to his desk. Kaz, thrown off balance, stumbled and fell.

 _“DARLING, YOU WOULD HAVE BETTER CHANCES OF DROWNING A FISH IN THE OCEAN,”_ the woman commented from behind his back.

“Who are you? A Grisha?” he asked with wariness in his voice when he managed to stand up. There were sightings like those of Grisha on jurda parem, but this was nothing like the encounter with Van Eck Tidemaker. That situation had been something completely new for him, but this one bore a reminiscent feel he didn’t like at all. That sick air again.

 _“I AM DEATH,”_ the pale woman answered with a shrug of its shoulders without any need of further proving itself. It (he couldn’t bring himself to call it ‘she’) didn’t need to.

“So? Do you expect me to come with you willingly? “Kaz stepped back closer to the doors. There could be only one reason for a visit from Grim Reaper. However, he wasn’t about to go down without a fight. He had too much to do. He had to bring down that rat, Pekka Rollins. He had to act out his revenge. He - he had to apologize. He had to tell Inej...

_Inej._

The moment Reaper opened the mouth it hit him.

 _“I AM NOT HERE TO TAKE YOU, DARLING, JUST PASSING SOME FREE TIME BEFORE I HAVE TO GET BACK TO THE REAL WORK,“_ Death said and waved its hand in the general direction of Nina’s cabin. Kaz felt like punching himself. It should have dawned on him sooner that he wasn’t the one in mortal danger. The initial fear for his plans to destroy Pekka Rollins vanished, replaced with fear for something else, but he pushed it aside, almost not allowing the anxiety to show on his face. He needed to focus.

“And why are you passing your free time in my cabin? Do you want something from me?” he asked with feigned arrogance. His hand found the key and turned it around in the keyhole, locking himself up with Reaper.

 _“I HEARD YOU ARE MORE CLEVER. I SAW YOU ACTING CLEVER. DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE CLOSED DOORS CAN STOP ME?_ ” Reaper remarked on his actions, ignoring his question. Kaz decide to take it as a yes.

“Do you think I don’t know that? I thought you were more clever, “he retorted and his expression changed.

 _A scheming face,_ Inej would say.

“I closed the doors, so no one will interrupt us. “

 _“I SEE. THEN WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DISCUS?”_ Reaper’s long bony fingers traced the surface of his desk and swept off an invisible particle of dust.

_“THE LIFE OF ONE OF YOUR COMPANIONS, PERHAPS? “_

“That’s what I wanted to ask you,” Kaz walked towards the desk and raised a still full glass bottle. “Wine? “

 _“NO, THANK YOU DARLING. I DO NOT DRINK,“_ the Grim Reaper waved him off politely, face still disinterested. Nevertheless, Kaz opened the bottle and poured himself a glass. His common sense was telling him, he shouldn’t drink alcohol in this situation, but his common sense could go screw itself at this point - he needed something to calm his nerves.

Death acted like a perfect gambler, he had to give it that. But he was a gambler as well, and he knew how to pull strings and turn tides. The only problem was he never had traded with Death. _What could Grim Reaper want?_

He raised the glass to his lips, buying himself a bit more time.

_Saints, that wine tasted like piss._

“So, what do you want … in exchange?” he asked at last, fearing the answer.

Death didn’t reply.

”Money? Revenge? What about a soul for a soul? You can have Matthias’.” Although, Nina would kill him for doing that.” Or,” he added after a moment with a grim voice, “I can give you the soul of Pekka Rollins if I manage to find it. “

 _“I DO NOT CARE FOR WEALTH NOR FOR THE SOUL OF THAT MAN,“_ Death sighed and took the glass from him, making him yank back. Only then did he realize that his hands were shaking.

“I can get you more of them,” he proposed, slightly at a loss. “As many souls as you wish for.”

Kaz Rietveld in him shivered at those words.

_“WHY WOULD I CRAVE FOR MORE WORK? THE AMOUNT OF SOULS I REAP EVERY DAY IS ALREADY CONSIDERABLY HIGH,” Reaper said with a sad smile. It was a horrible expression. “OH, YOU HUMANS! YOUR LIES, YOUR HATRED, YOUR BLADES AND GUNS, POISONS AND MAGIC. AS IF IT WAS NOT ENOUGH THAT YOU STAND AGAINST NATURE, YOU STRIVE TO DESTROY EACH OTHER AS WELL. JUST LOOK AT YOURSELF...”_

“I don’t need a lecture from you,” Kaz barked and, in his anger, he made the mistake of looking straight into Death’s eyes. The Grisha on jurda parem had dilated pupils that made their eyes look almost black, but these eyes had no pupils, irises or whites for that matter. The only thing Kaz could see were two tenebrous endless tunnels - the eyes of a soulless creature.

 _How high is your price?_ Those eyes were asking him. _How low are your standards? How deep are your feelings?_

An idea, a rather stupid one, formed in Kaz’s mind. It was totally absurd, but when he thought of that it seemed more and more like the best option. Not that he had any other.

“I become a Reaper in your stead, “he proposed solemnly. “But I have two conditions - firstly I will finish this heist beforehand, and secondly - you let Wraith alive.”

_“JUST A WHILE AGO YOU MADE AN ATTEMPT ON MY… EXISTENCE AND NOW YOU WISH TO TAKE MY PLACE? “_

“You didn’t seem so content about your job. I’m willing to take this burden off you, so why hesitate?” despite his usual behaviour, Kaz raised his right hand. “So, do we have a deal or not?”

Grim Reaper burst into laughter. It was far worse than the smile.

_“EXCUSE ME!? OH, DARLING, YOU ARE SO ADORABLE WHEN YOU TRY TO ACT ALL GROWN UP!”_

It took a long excruciating moment till the Reaper calmed down.

_“SADLY, THE AGE OF YOUR MIND AND THAT OF YOUR FACE DO NOT MATCH.”_

“We are not discussing my face right now, unless you really wish for it,” he answered sharply, putting his hand down. _As Death he would be able to get his revenge in a way he had never dreamed of. Maybe, he could meet Jordie…_ But his thoughts strayed elsewhere again. _Damnit Brekker, focus!_

 _“SWEETIE, I AM AFRAID YOU HAVE NO CLUE WHAT YOU ARE GETTING YOURSELF INVOLVED WITH,“_ Death told him mockingly.

“I’ve killed before. It wouldn’t be that much of a difference, “Kaz shrugged.

The shadows on Death’s face deepened. Suddenly it looked really like a she – a woman made of flesh and bones. A very tired woman.

 _“I DO NOT KILL, “_ Death spoke. _“I AM SIMPLY DOING MY JOB. THE QUESTION IS - WOULD YOU, KAZ BREKKER, DITRYHANDS, BASTARD OF THE BARREL, KAZ RIETVELD, WILL YOU BE CAPABLE OF DOING MY JOB AS WELL? WILL YOU BE ABLE TO STAND BY AS INNOCENT SUFFER?”_

“I have been doing just that for most of my life,” Kaz felt incredibly uncomfortable with her staring at him like that and tried to move away from her field of vision.

 _“WILL YOU BE ABLE TO TAKE THE LIVES OF THE ONES CLOSEST TO YOU?”_ her gaze was still following him.

“I have no one who is close to me anymore.” As he was saying that, images of Jordie’s face appeared in his mind. 

“There are only those I can use.”

_“OH, TRULY?”_

“No mourners, no funerals.”

This time Jesper’s and Nina’s faces, as well as those of the other Dregs popped up in his head. He pushed them away.

_“AND WHAT ABOUT INEJ? YOU BARGAIN FOR HER LIFE NOW - WILL YOU BE ABLE TO TAKE IT FROM HER WHEN THE TIME COMES? EVEN IF SHE IS TO DIE IN A MONTH? EVEN IF SHE IS TO DIE AS A SLAVE WITHOUT A KNIFE IN HER HANDS? EVEN IF SHE BEGS YOU TO LET HER STAY, TO MEET HER FAMILY AT LEAST ONCE, TO BE FREE AT LEAST FOR A SECOND? WILL YOU BE ABLE TO SAY NO TO WRAITH?”_

“Let me make one thing clear, Reaper,” Kaz hissed with his fists clenched. “You don’t have the right to say her name like that.”

_How dare you even speak about her?_

_“YOU ARE REALLY EMOTIONALLY INVESTED IN HER, IS THAT NOT THE TRUTH?”_ Grim Reaper seemed to enjoy the whole situation just a bit too much.

“Are we here to discuss business or your interest in my life?” he shot her a murderous glare.

 _“I AM ACTUALLY DOING YOU A HUGE SERVICE BY APPEARING HERE. FROM A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE I KNOW THAT A SMALL TALK WITH DEATH CAN HELP TO CLEAR PRIORITIES,”_ Death said with a deeply offended tone.

“I don’t need your services! I need Wraith alive!” he snapped. Now he really wished to become Grim Reaper. Because that way, this _creature_  would be mortal. And he could bring her down. Brick by brick or in one fell swoop, he didn’t care.

 _“YOU SEE? YOU ARE TOO EMOTIONAL FOR THIS JOB TOO,”_ Death pointed out. _“DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT TAKING MY PLACE WOULD COST YOU YOUR LIFE?“_

“As if I cared! My life! My soul-!”

_My soul isn’t worth anything! Just take it!_

Those last words got stuck in his throat, suffocating him. Death tilted her head, as if listening to some voice Kaz couldn’t hear. In the depths of her eye a weak blue light shone for a moment, giving him ridiculous hope, but it vanished so fast it could have been just a figment of his imagination.

 _”I WAS A PLEASANT DICSUSSION, HOWEVER, I HAVE TO GO NOW,”_ Death said indifferently and already next to the doors, she - it looked back at him. _“ALSO, YOU OUGHT TO KNOW - YOUR SOUL IS WORTH MORE THAN YOU BELIEVE. AT LEAST ACCORDING TO MY SUPERIORS, ALTHOUGH THEY SEEM TO BE WAY TOO OPTIMISTIC TO ME SOMETIMES.”_

“No, don’t go!” Kaz pinned Death to the wall with his knife. This time Reaper didn’t disappear from his grasp. The wave of nausea rising in him was stronger than before, but he fought it.

“Don’t take her,” he breathed out. It was more begging than threatening.

 _“AGAIN DARLING? GREED MIGHT DO YOUR BIDDING, BUT I SERVE NO MAN,”_ Death whispered back and for a moment Kaz was looking into his brother's eyes again - this time dead as when his body had been taken away by the sea. The sick feeling became too overwhelming. Kaz shut his eyes with the need to vomit again and when he opened them, Grim Reaper was gone.

Kaz plunged the knife into the wall in frustration. _D_

 _eath and Pekka Rollins...They will pay for this..._ _He will find a way to bring them down. Both. Brick by brick._

He pulled out the knife to strike the wall one more time, but as he did it, he noticed a piece of paper pinned to the wall by the blade

**DEAR MORTAL Inej Ghafa,**

it read in capital letters,

**YOU HAVE JUST BEEN PROVIDED WITH OUR NEWEST SERVICE - THE NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE. DO NOT WORRY, THE PRESENCE OF DEATH IN YOUR LIFE WAS ONLY TEMPORARY AND THE MOMENT YOU FINISH READING THIS LETTER, YOU WILL HAVE NO RECOLLECTION OF THIS EVENT.**

**WE LOOK FORWARD TO OUR NEXT COLLABORATION.**

And beneath it, in much smaller and elegant cursive stood:

**_I had intentions of telling you, but you were absolutely adorable. Moreover, this is my vendetta for making me jump into the sea for that one-eyed titan. The water was rather unpleasant, and he was just plain aggressive. Good luck until our next meeting, Mr Rietveld._ **

At the bottom of the paper there was a signature - a bird sitting on an hourglass. Kaz was glad he was alone in the room, because he didn’t have to put on a miserable act of pretending that his heart didn’t stop for a second. Inej was sure to be alive. For now. Maybe it meant till they get into the Ice Court or until they get back to Ketterdam, but that was so far away right now. And she would be _alive_. He _almost_ thanked the Saints for that.

Of course, he didn’t know if he could trust a piece of paper popping out of nowhere, but the entire situation was unbelievably bizarre in and of itself. He looked at the letter again and a wry smile crept on his face.

_Until our next meeting._

Yeah, the next meeting with Death will surely be something _he_ will enjoy. But before that he needed to settle one more thing.

He reached to unlock the door, when suddenly the paper in his hand turned into ashes and slipped through his fingers. Kaz took a step back, feeling dizzy. A sharp pain shot from his leg, making him crawl to the chair. His cane was lying on the ground.

 _How had it got there?_ Kaz looked around. _And, how had he got here, as a matter of fact?_

He clearly remembered walking away from Nina’s cabin because he’d heard steps on the other side. Those steps. He cocked his head and let out quiet laugh. Inej must have woken up already. Why hadn’t anyone informed him yet? With the pain still lingering in his leg, he lifted the cane and was about to leave the room when he paused. What would he tell her anyways? Why should he tell her anything?

He caught a glance of the papers on his desk. He had to work on the details for the plan, he reminded himself with relief and disappointment. Inej had survived all this while without his help, she can do it for a bit longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KNEW I WAS GONNA FORGET SOMETHING!!!  
> My greatest most colossal thanks goes to my friend and classmate, who put up with all of my drafts and helped me make this fanfiction less awkward.  
> I hope you've enjoyed it.   
> If not,I'm sorry, but you were the one who pressed the button.


	2. What Death was doing after Inej's recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *beware spoilers not as subtle as this unfortunate writer intended them to be*

Death strolled across the sea. She stood next to a woman who was suffering from firepox. She hid in the blade belonging to Pekka Rollins’ henchman when a man came to him bearing the news of Kaz Brekker getting away. She filled the lungs of a drowning sailor. She drifted on the last breath of a Grisha who died in flames in a small village in Fjerda. She was the one who took the hand of a Kaelish prostitute kicked out of the Menagerie because of tsifil. Distances didn’t apply to her. Time played little to no importance to her. She didn’t forget, not one face, not one name. She felt no pity when the face of Pekka Rollins announced the deadly verdict for the bearer of the bad news. She didn’t cry when a bereft Kaelish mare asked her if she would see her family. This was her job.

After a while Grim Reaper walked into a massive dark building in the middle of Ketterdam. The main hall was almost empty, only a few scholars were roaming through the library books. There were no women in the library - that would be a rare sight - but she didn’t catch anyone’s attention. Death drifted through the aisles with books like a ghost. If one of those scholars were to follow her - which would have meant he must have noticed her at first - after a while he would observe that she walked out of Ketterdam.

Not out of the library, however.

After a while - if we can talk about time when it comes to Death - she reached a small room different from the rest of the gloomy library.

The room was  illuminated with soft light coming through small round windows above high shelves filled with books. A perfect place for a rest if you didn’t count the three giant wolves, one sleeping and two chasing each other around a giant tree in the middle of the room. Despite that, the tree looked rather content.

When he noticed Reaper, he waved at her.

 _“Welcome, Reaper of human souls!”_ he said warmly.

 _“GLAD TO SEE YOU AS WELL, DARLING,”_ Reaper smiled.

 _“Can you perhaps enlighten me on what these friendly creatures are doing here? Have you started to pick animals as well?”_ he asked her and patted one of the wolves with his wooden hand.

“ _NO, I BROUGHT THEM HERE FOR MY OWN REASONS,”_ she leaned to brush the wolf’s fur, but the animal hid behind the tree and growled at her.

“ _Stop,”_ the tree man scolded the wolf, waking his sleeping companion, and then he turned back to Death.

_“So?”_

_“LET ME SIMPLY SHOW YOU.”_   Reaper turned to the shelves and ghosted above the book covers with her spider-like fingers. At last she picked out a moderately thick book. The majority of paper in the book was greyish, but the last few pages or so were dyed black. She opened the book on the place where the colour changed and passed it to the treeman.

 _“Pardon me if I’m wrong, trees have it different than humans after all, but these kinds of fantasies are normal for a boy his age, are they not?”_ he asked after he read the first few lines.

 _“EXCUSE ME? OH, NOT THERE, PLEASE, READ THIS PART,”_ she pointed at the bottom of the correct page.

The tree man immersed himself in reading. He read slowly, turning every page as a sacred artefact. After three pages, he closed the book and looked at the wolves with thousand years old sadness.

 _“To push a man against his own nature like this? It’s truly cruel. But human,”_ he handed the book back Reaper.

 _“I BELIEVE HE HAS TO HAVE A CHANCE TO APOLOGIZE,”_ she noted.

 _“But they cannot stay here for long,”_ the tree man warned her. Instead of arguing, she patted the atramentous cover of the book.

_“THEY WILL NOT.”_

The book clanged back to its rightful place like a coffin to a grave. Death turned to the treeman with a smile.

_“ALSO, I BELIEVE HE WOULD LIKE TO MEET YOU. A TALKING TREE - HE WILL SURELY BE THRILLED.”_

_“If you insist,”_ the tree man bowed to her. _“I wish you the best of luck.”_

 _“WISH ME STRONG NERVES INSTEAD, DARLING,”_ Death sighed as she pulled a few other books out of the shelf. None of them had any name on them but she didn’t need it, she knew them all as soon as she touched their desks. Her eyes shone with red light for a moment and then became dark anew.

Death was unfair but unyielding. Powerful. Powerless. This was something Kaz Brekker would never understand.

 _“SAY MY GREETINGS TO TASHA, MARYA, AND JORDAN,”_ she said to the tree man as she put the books back to their place. She kissed the tree man on one woody cheek and then disappeared into the darkness. The wolves growled at her one last time, but she ignored them.

This was her job. She couldn’t pass it on to someone else. But, sometimes she wished she could.


End file.
